Tucked inside the expansive Fully Booked flagship store in BGC, Book & Cook is a respite serving comforting dishes and riveting pages to Manila’s voracious readers.
It’s no exaggeration to say you can spend nearly an entire day exploring and lounging in Fully Booked’s famous BGC branch (this writer certainly has). It’s still Manila’s largest book store, and with an expansive collection of titles, it’s been a go-to haven for bibliophiles. Spanning multiple floors, the store has hosted its fair share of cafes and restaurants over the years—which makes sense, since devouring a good book alongside a delicious meal or drinks is a staple ritual. Recently, it welcomed what will surely be a longtime favorite spot among its patrons: Book & Cook.
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A Cultural Nook For The Voracious Reader
The homegrown dining concept is built as an extension of the bookstore, with natural lighting filtering through windows and charming literary touches scattered throughout a modern space. It can seat roughly 42 diners, and features casual bar seating for the solo diner; square tables that seat groups of two to four; and for larger groups of six, an enclave perfect for group reading sessions.
Of course, what’s a bookstore dining concept without its books? The place takes full advantage of its plentiful resources, providing an array of choice titles for diners to peruse (if they’re not already reading their own books)—including Advance Reading Copies (ARCs) fresh from the press.
It’s clear that Book & Cook is setting out to be the next cultural nook for Fully Booked BGC’s visitors, whether they’re frequent patrons or first timers. “Even though readers can forget the world while browsing books, some are bound to get hungry after exploring rows and rows of shelves, so we welcome Book & Cook as another way to delight our customers,” shares Jaime Daez, Managing Director of Fully Booked, in a statement.
Soulful Food And Drinks
Book & Cook also sets out to nourish the body as much as the mind with a menu of comforting, soulful bites and drinks, Michelin-trained French chef Edouard Guillaud-Rollin helming its kitchen. Hailing from Burgundy, France, Guillaud-Rollin spent eight years at Hôtel de la Poste, where the restaurant earned its first Michelin star during his tenure—a distinction it still holds today. It was reading, fittingly enough, that sparked his early interest in cooking.
“I’ve loved books since I was a kid. In fact, a book inspired me to become a chef,” he shares, the chef having grown up reading manga and manhwa titles. “I especially love Cooking Master Boy. I read it when I was a young boy living in China, and I was so fascinated that I knew I wanted to work in the kitchen someday.”
In conceptualizing the menu, the chef prioritized wholesome dishes like authentic French pastries and fresh, homecooked-style meals that were hearty and ideal for the kinds of hangouts the space invites. “We thought of food you’d enjoy while reading or talking with friends about a book you’re excited about,” he explains.
Signature dishes include handmade pastas like the Chicken Pesto Pasta, Truffle Mushroom Pasta, and Spicy Sausage Ravioli; rice dishes like Creamy Chicken & Mushroom with Herbed Rice and Beef Stroganoff with Herbed Rice; and sandwiches and soups, including a combo of Spinach and Artichoke Melt with Tomato Soup.
A selection of cafe classics like lattes and French Hot Chocolate await, which can be paired with the spot’s pastry offerings, namely their eclairs and croissants. If coffee isn’t really your thing, Book & Cook also offers fruit smoothies and dessert floats to satisfy your sweet tooth.
At its core, the new BGC spot aims to be more than just a place to settle into when you need a break from browsing shelves. Instead, it seeks to cultivate meaningful, everyday experiences you can return to for comfort and inspiration; in other words, moments meant to be savored slowly, much like a good read.
Book & Cook is open Sunday to Thursday from 11 AM to 9 PM, and Friday to Saturday from 11 AM to 10 PM.
Photos courtesy of Book & Cook
Frequently Asked Questions
Book & Cook is a bookstore café tucked inside the Fully Booked flagship store in BGC, designed as a cozy space where diners can enjoy food while browsing and reading books.
The café features seating for around 42 guests, including bar seating, small group tables, and a larger enclave for group reading. Diners can also browse a selection of books, including Advance Reading Copies (ARCs), while they eat.
The café offers comforting dishes like handmade pastas, rice meals, sandwiches, and soups, alongside French pastries, coffee, hot chocolate, smoothies, and dessert drinks, curated by Michelin-trained chef Edouard Guillaud-Rollin.
